Mel Torrefranca’s Visions Come to Life With Delgado

For Mel Torrefrance creating had always been her passion. Since she was just a preteen she spent her time writing stories and bringing the young writing community together. And in early 2020 she published her second novel, the first was erased from the internet as she wrote it as an inexperienced kid.

Her novel Leaving Wishville has set her career on fire and it continues to spread as she followed with her novel Capsule (and a book trailer/film that goes along with it), starting her own publishing house, moving to Thailand, and planning Belladonna – a trilogy everyone’s in love with even though it’s currently not even close to publication. Somewhere in there she turned Leaving Wishville into a short film as only a late teen.

It’s no shocker that her Youtube videos are always cinematic and already look like short films themselves, with beautiful and aesthetic shots and a sense of a storyline and even theme. I can easily say the same for Sebastian Delgado, who partnered with Mel for this project. Shortly after the publication of her novel, Sebastian reached out to Mel as somewhat of a fangirl for characters and stories of hers. Then it was decided, that they would collaborate to make one of the best low-budget short films on Youtube – quite a broad statement however with the story and the technicality of Sebastian’s cinematic abilities, it’s fitting.

Sebastian Delgado is not a household name – though AMP is just waiting for his work to hit big screens – his work speaks for itself. He developed a desire for filmmaking at a young age, taking every chance to learn his craft and hone his talent. Throughout the years he’s worked on many projects moving from Miami to New York to Atlanta, chasing his dreams of creating until it took him to the West Coast for Benji Moreno, the protagonist of Leaving Wishville.

“While reading the novel by Mel Torrefranca, I knew I had to create a cinematic adaptation. I would smell the sea salt and pine in the air, hear the sounds of seagulls squawking overhead, and feel trapped with the characters who resided in the small town of Wishville, lost in time & space. It’s the perfect capsule of my experience as a child, desperate to venture into the unknown, regardless of what danger might lie ahead. I hope to do this story justice, and that you enjoy watching it,”
Sebastian wrote.

And from his and Mel’s Youtube videos we get to watch behind-the-scenes footage – often times chaotic and full of life and laughter – and we fall in love with the people and characters though we have yet to see the film. Through the series of vlogs, we watch unexpected turns such as “rockclimbing,” nudist beaches, and bee attacks. Watching how it all happened contributes to the experience of the story.

Written together by Mel and Sebastian, aesthetic, cinematic scenes and an old raspy voice rope us into this 7-minute-long journey. We soon meet our main character Benji who we will begin to connect with as he conversates with his close friend Sam. From the beachside, we hear the waves crashing, and as seconds pass we gain a sense of an unknown danger. We learn that Benji is unsatisfied with his life and feels trapped, we also learn he despises Cherry sodas. The color of the film, a washed-out blue tells us where they are located and also shared the tone of the story.

In film colors have meaning, they show emotion through the set. As Wishville goes on the blues get darker and are met with browns and greys and blacks. This suggests that the story has taken a darker tone than in the beginning when he was with Sam. In the film, blue is the color of coldness, isolation, water, and tranquility. We know that in this world swimming is considered a superpower, so water translates to danger. And for the mix of coldness and isolation, translate to Benji leaving his home to venture out to find his father who had left Wishville a decade ago. Colors can tell a lot about the characters and story of films, they are important and often used accidentally, however in Sebastine’s case I believe they were used elaborately. The washed-out colors also give a sense of nostalgia and as we go back in forth between the timeline we can tell that perhaps Benji, Sam, and the mayor live in a less modern time.

The music, sound effects, shots, and locations pull together to create possibly one of Delgado’s best films yet.

Early on we learn that Benji’s dad had left Wishville through the television where the major discusses a candle-lit visual for his father as it has marked a decade since he’s been gone. Sam is the major’s daughter and talks down on him saying he’s a bit crazy, this gives a mystery and questions whether he is reliable, it questions whether he’s hiding something.

The short film does not have time to go into full detail about the masterpiece that is Mel Torrefranca’s world. However, it gives us a sense of the story and makes us want more. By the end, we see that Benji does venture out into the forbidden woods like his father. Without a clear idea about his whereabouts or whether he’s alive or not, we end the film with a candle-lit visual for Benji. Who is trustable? Who is to blame? We close with an unsatisfying ending and all the reason to go and pick up the book.

The visuals and storytelling through Sebastian and his team, they do exactly what they set out to do: give justice to Mel Torrefranca’s work. I am looking forward to what comes from both of them – especially Sebastian’s films.